NASA's Great Moonbuggy Race 2012

On April 13-14, 2012, more than 80 teams from 20 states, Puerto Rico, Canada, Germany, India, Italy, Russia and the United Arab Emirates -- approximately 600 student drivers, engineers and mechanics, plus team advisors and cheering sections -- gathered for the 19th annual Great Moonbuggy Race. The race is held each spring at the U.S. Space and Rocket Center in Huntsville, Ala.

Organized by NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, the race challenges students to design, build and race lightweight, human-powered buggies. Traversing the grueling half-mile course, which simulates the cratered lunar surface, race teams face many of the same engineering challenges dealt with by Apollo-era lunar rover developers at the Marshall Center in the late 1960s. The winning teams post the fastest vehicle assembly and race times in their divisions, with the fewest on-course penalties.

Image credit: NASA/MSFC/Emmett Given

› Read About the Race
› Face of the Race (Flickr)